2+2GT

Well, the W-shaped repro is stamped about twice as deeply, and the gauge of the steel is about twice as thick. The math is up to you, I suspect I was being kind by saying "twice".



I just installed one of these today. Fella called and was ready to give up. Brought it over, and I had no trouble. With the brace laying in place, the tower bolts were about 3/4" inward and somewhat to the rear. I loosened the fender bolts, except the ones at front and rear, and jacked up the car supported at the rear end of each front frame rail extension. I attached the cowl end of the brace to the cowl with a couple of 3" bolts. The worst side wa the left, so I went there first, and with only a little force I was able to drop the end onto the bolts, and put one nut on. Then on the other side, I had to pry the last 1/4" with an 18" prybar. To make sure the thing didn't pop off when I put the shock brackets on, I put them on with one nut before taking the holding nut off. Once the shock bracket nuts were partway on, I tightened the cowl bolts. With them tight, I installed the two finish bolts, and removed the extra long bolts and replaced them. All that was left was re-tightening the fender bolts, and the shock nuts and bolts. After that, I checked the electrical system, found that corrosion or dirt was keeping the plug on the voltage regulator from making proper contact. A little spray cleaner, and light grease to keep it clean, and done. Including cleanup, the whole deal was just under two hours.

crunchyskippy

Without math, I "suspect" we'll just have to settle for "stronger" then.

2+2GT

OK, I gotta ask, why are you defending the piece of crap imitation braces? They fit lousy, look cheap, and and are weak compared to the good ones.

19mike66

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

The brace is original to the car. I removed it almost 2 years ago as I started the upgrade of my front suspension. I have tried many of the tricks that you propsed but nothing seems to be helping. I am going to probably remove it for now and proceed with other items as it is just holding progress up.

Thanks again for all your help.

Mike

crunchyskippy

I’ll start off by apologizing. I really don’t have any stake in the “cheap” export brace (although for disclosure purposes I did purchase and install one a couple years ago). You see, I come to this forum for knowledge as I am not an expert with Mustangs. And over the years I have received probably more than my fair share of help on this site – either by asking or simply reading other peoples issues.

However, I construct steel buildings for living and am quite knowledgeable with the properties of steel. So I was asking an honest question about the statement of “twice as strong”. I also have a civil engineering degree and am quite good with math and the quantitative analysis that goes with measuring material (in this case steel) strength. I guess I have a raw nerve for blanket statements not based on fact.

Anyhow – I do believe the picture you posted speaks volumes as to the fact that the "extra strong" version appears to be stronger. But without physically testing it or knowing the specifics of carbon content, thickness & uniformity, and angles & dimensions of the corrugation (“W’s” as you called them) I was sincere that we should just agree that it was stronger without saying "how much". We really have no idea the factor in which the strength is increased. I think DeviousFred was thinking the same thing earlier.

I hope that explains where I was coming from.